Source: ACSOL
Today the plaintiff in the case challenging Missouri’s Halloween sign requirement filed his final brief in federal district court. The brief includes testimony from the trial which took place in St. Louis on June 20. In the brief, the plaintiff repeated his argument that the Missouri state law that requires signs to be posted on Halloween violates the First Amendment because it is speech compelled by the government.
The brief notes that the proper standard of review for this case is strict scrutiny, a burden the Attorney General failed to meet. As a result, the plaintiff requests that the federal district court grant a permanent statewide injunction.
Testimony noted in the brief includes testimony from both an alleged expert witness from Arizona as well a Missouri state government official. Their testimony differed significantly in that the expert witness stated that the rate at which registrants re-offend is more than 30 percent while the state government official testified that the rate of re-offense is less than 2 percent.
“The bottom line in this case is that the State of Missouri believes that a person convicted of a sex offense is not entitled to protection from the First Amendment,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “We disagree strongly with that belief.”
The court is expected to issue its decision in this case within the next 30 days. If the court grants a permanent statewide injunction, it is expected that the State of Missouri will appeal the court’s decision to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The trial brief:
State of Missouri - Halloween signs - Post Trial Brief - CONFORMED